Lansbury - who starred in 264 episodes from 1984-1996 - had been critical of NBC’s
idea of a reboot starring Octavia Spencer. But the entertainment website
Deadline.com reported this week that the network was not going ahead with the
show.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

She said
she thought the remake was a bad idea from the start, and said she had
'too much admiration' for Spencer 'to saddle her with the awful
responsibility' of having to rework the much-loved show.

'Octavia Spencer is a superb actress. She had no business being put into a situation that she couldn't win.'

Spencer had been a jobbing actress in various films, from Coach Carter to The Soloist, before getting her big break in 2011's The Help, which earned her an Oscar amongst many other awards.

Angela had won four Golden Globes and 12
consecutive Emmy nominations for her performance as the mystery writer
and amateur detective.

Murder,
She Wrote is one of the most popular shows in the history of
television, and in its heyday it garnered 23 million viewers in the
States.

When Lansbury first
learned of the remake, the actress told the Associated Press: 'I think
it's a mistake to call it Murder, She Wrote because Murder, She Wrote
will always be about Cabot Cove and this wonderful little group of
people who told those lovely stories and enjoyed a piece of that place,
and also enjoyed Jessica Fletcher, who is a rare and very individual
kind of person.

Remake: Oscar-winning actress Octavia Spencer was to star in a contemporary version of Murder, She Wrote

'So I'm sorry that they have to use the title Murder, She Wrote, even though they have access to it and it's their right.'

Miss
Lansbury returns to the London stage in March after a 40-year absence
as the medium Madame Arcati in Noel Coward’s comedy Blithe Spirit. She
hopes to surprise the audience and ‘make them laugh’.

The actress, whose last London stage
performance was in Hamlet at the National Theatre in 1975, said she
hoped the new show would be 'a smash hit'.

Dame Lansbury is returning to the West End to reprise her role as Madame Arcati in Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at the Gielgud Theatre in central London